Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 [WIP - Assembly & Attachment of Upper Hull Section, Part 01]

 When I was a new to armored fighting vehicle (AFV) scale model kits, I would often get excited about 1/35 scale models that came with lots of photo-etched (PE) parts. Look at all the detail that would make for a more realistic looking model, I had thought back then. But this was just plain naivety as I have come to loathe working with extremely small PE parts. It wasn't so bad for the Tamiya 1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142, because only two PE parts can be considered tiny.

Photo-etched parts for the Tamiya 1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142

 What are PE parts anyway? Unless you are completely new to vehicle-based scale model kits, you would have worked with such metal parts at one time or another. But in case you haven't had the chance to work with PE parts yet, just know that they are metal components that have been 'etched' out of sheet metal using a controlled chemical process (see image above).

 Use of PE parts for the Sturmgeschütz began in Step 13, which also included general instructions on how to work with PE parts (see image below). In Steps 13 and 14, PE parts used comprised two tiny strips that form part of the vehicle's antenna holder (parts 3 and 4, see above) as well as its headlight covers (parts 5 and 6, see above). The rest of the PE parts will be used in a later step.

Steps 13 and 14 of the Tamiya Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 assembly process

 Upper Hull assembly for the Sturmgeschütz began at the vehicle's rear section. The parts for this section comprised mainly plastic parts with the exception of what seems like a support structure for the antenna holder. These were the PE parts that gave me the most problem due to their minuscule size. I could barely hold on to the tiny strips and had to use tweezers to manipulate the PE parts. 

Plastic and metal parts for the rear section of the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142

Parts of Upper Hull Assembly laid out next to the rear section of the Sturmgeschütz

It was easier to attach the said parts separately to the Upper and Lower Hull respectively

Both the Upper and Lower Hull were dry-fitted together for a better view of the rear section

 After patiently putting together the rear end of the Sturmgeschütz, it was time to continued the Upper Hull assembly process on the vehicle's front end. Here, two more PE parts i.e. the headlight covers were used in addition to the other plastic parts. This time around the PE parts were large enough to be easily manageable. However it was the turn of the plastic parts to be the thorn in my side. My frustration was exacerbated by situations in which after a time consuming period of getting those tiny plastic parts in the right orientation, they then chose at that very moment to stick onto my nitrile gloves like magnet. Static electricity had caused the parts to stick more to my gloves than the AFV itself!

Plastic and metal parts for the front end of the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142

Unlike its rear end, the parts for the front end all attach to the vehicle's Upper Hull

Here is the Upper Hull with most of its parts attached, but not all as a few will come in Part 02

As with the rear section earlier, the Upper and Lower Hull were dry-fitted together to see how it all fits

 At this stage, only 67% of the photo-etched parts have been used. The metal air intake grilles for the rear section of the Sturmgeschütz will be glued on in later steps. Slowly but steadily, the vehicle is getting build. The thought of painting Panzer Grey Color Modulation of the hull as well as painting the tiny details of the vehicle's interior is actually filling me with dread. But if I were to dwell on that fear too long then the Sturmgeschütz will never get build. So I'm taking it one step at a time, and focusing on getting the vehicle build first before worrying about the painting. More assembly photos to come in future posts, so stay tuned for that. Until next time, thanks so much for taking the time to check this blog post. And as always, be well and happy!

Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 [WIP - Assembly and Installation of the Short-Barreled Main Gun]

 After overloading on cuteness with a series of Hello Kitty builds it was time to return to a more sombre subject matter vis-à-vis an armored fighting vehicle (AFV) from World War II. It has been nearly two years since I last worked on this Tamiya scale model kit - the 1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 - and it's still only at the assembly stage. I seemed to have really slacked off my AFV projects big time. This time around I plan to, at the very least, complete the assembly process of the Sturmgeschütz III. In this post are Steps 11 and 12 of the assembly process.

Short-Barreled Main Gun of the 1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142

Steps 11 and 12 of the Tamiya Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B assembly process

 One of the uniue selling points of this kit is the amount if insane detail that goes into the interior of the Sturmgeschütz III as well as its gun. For example, the kit provides a metal part that accurately replicates the inner barrel rifling (spiral grooves) inside the gun barrel. Imagine that! In the real world, this inner barrel rifling served to stabilize the projectile (i.e. the shell) thus improving accuracy.

Sub-assembly of the 75mm StuK 37 L/24 short-barreled main gun ...

... comprises tons of details made up from both plastic and metal parts ...

... of which the most prominent is the precision-made aluminum barrel ...

... which comes complete with inner barrel rifling.

 Even by just looking at Step 11 of the assembly process (see second photo from top) you can already tell there are a lot of delicate parts involved in putting together the Sturmgeschütz's main gun. Despite the strong plastic that is characteristic of Tamiya parts, there are still some thin and tiny parts that you have to be very careful with lest you snap it in two. Case in point is the thin bar connecting the gunner's seat to the main gun sub-assembly, or even the mid-section of the gunner's periscope.

Other noticeable details are the ammo pouch for collecting hot spent shells ...

... a fairly detailed plastic replica of the 7.5cm Kanone breech block, ...

... a seat as well as a periscope for the gunner that is connected to ...

... the main gun's contraption which itself can be pivoted up and down.

 Among other details I noticed are the 75mm Stuk 37 L/24 short-barreled main gun, the 7.5cm Kanone breech block, the pouch that collects spent shells, targeting periscopes, a seat for the gunner, pivot points that allow the gun to move up and down, and many more parts that I don't even know the name of. And that's just the main gun sub-assembly itself. If you look at the interior (see below) in which the gun is housed, you can't fail to notice details like seats for the crew and commander, a rack for the ammo/shells, and textured steel plate floor. There are actually much more interior details located on the yet-to-be-assembled fighting compartment which covers up the main gun section.

Before installation: main gun and interior of the lower hull (with wheels temporarily removed)

After installation: main gun and interior of the lower hull (with wheels temporarily removed)

Short-barreled main gun installed within the lower hull's interior (side closeup view, from left)

 After the main gun had been assembled, it was time install the sub-assembly into the Sturmgeschütz itself (see above and below images). They were temporarily fixed together sans glue because I intend to paint the main gun separately from the interior. Both the former and latter have details that would be difficult to reach with a paint brush if they were to be glued together before being painted.

Many parts have yet to be attached to the lower hull hence it looks quite bare for now

Sturmgeschütz's interior and short-barreled main gun sub-assembly (closeup view from behind)

Wheels on the lower hull were removed as their fitting is still loose prior to being painted

 You may have noticed the Sturmgeschütz III body is missing lots of parts assembled from earlier steps like the wheels on the lower hull. These were removed to make it easier for me to manage Step 12 as well as to make things less stressful during the photo session. This is because the fitting of the wheels on the lower hull are still very loose. The wheels tend to come off easily thus complicating assembly work in Step 12 as well as posing of the Sturmgeschütz when being photographed. But I do plan to put on the wheels again for the final assembled shots, which is still some way off. 

Short-barreled main gun installed within the lower hull's interior (side closeup view, from right)

Main gun sub-assembly takes up almost all the space inside the hull interior

Sturmgeschütz's interior and short-barreled main gun sub-assembly (closeup view from front)

 After resuming work on just these two steps, I am reminded why I seem to have slackned the pace of my AFV projects. The extremely tinyand delicate parts involved can be a frustrating experience for someone with big clumsy hands like me. Working on Gunpla kits seem easier in general compared to what I've experienced with 1/35 scale AFV kits. Be that as it may, I'm glad I'm not put off resuming work on my AFV projects. A tad less enthusiastic than my mecha projects. Perhaps. But enough that the hobby train momentum isn't slowing down anytime soon. Until next time, be well and happy.

Bandai Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor [Completed]

 In a scale model kit that keeps on giving, the Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor figurine being featured in this post is the third possible configuration that can be assembled from the Bandai Hello Kitty/Zaku II Super-Deformed-Gundam-Cross-Silhouette (SDCS) Gunpla kit. Please read on for a short review as well as some photos of the completed figurine.

Bandai Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor [Completed]

 Apart from parts specific to it, this third figurine also uses parts from the earlier two builds. Unique to the Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor is the oversized green helmet and tinted visor, a neck extension, and lastly a pair of shoulder extensions. Everything else comes from the previous two figurines e.g. the head and ribbon bow comes from the Hello Kitty in Green Overalls figurine while the body and limbs come from the Super Deformed Zaku II figurine. So of the three build variations, this last one was the easiest and quickest to complete because most of the assembly was already done.

Apart from using the body and limbs of the Super Deformed Zaku II figurine ...

... as well as the head and ribbon bow of the Hello Kitty in Green Overalls figurine ...

... this Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor also utilizes new parts in the form of an oversized helmet/visor.

 Because the quality of the molded plastic finish was so good, I didn't have to paint the shoulder/neck extensions or the oversized helmet. I did, however, panel-line the whisker-like grooves on either side of the front section of the said helmet. And although some stickers were provided for this third build, I chose not to use them because I felt the stickers would have made the final build look tacky. 

Bandai Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor (back view)

Due to her peace-loving nature, the Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor ...

... does not wield any form of weapons whatsoever.

 Based on the oversized head vs small body proportions, this Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor is the build that most resembles a chibi-style character. And in keeping with Hello Kitty's peace-loving persona, the weapons have been removed from this third build. Having this cute feline wield weapons would make her look out of place in any pose. As such, this final configuration exists sans any weapons.

Of the three builds from this kit, this is the one that'll be on display

 Of all three configurations that I had built from this Bandai scale model kit, I prefer the one you see here the most. As such it is the build that will be put up on the display shelf. Unfortunately, if you want all three to be displayed at the same time, then you will have to purchase two sets of this kit.

 However, if you are not a fan of the Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor configuration, then just one kit will do because the Hello Kitty in Green Overalls and the Super Deformed Zaku II figurines do not share any parts. Not being a fan of either Hello Kitty or the Super Deformed mobile suits, I am fine with having just the Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor on display. Well that's enough kawaii for now. It's back to more 'serious' builds for me in the coming weeks. Thank you for taking the time to follow my journey with Hello Kitty. Until we meet again in my next post ... be well and happy.

Bandai Super Deformed Gundam Cross Silhouette Gunpla Kit - Zaku II [Completed]

 Second in the type of scale model kits or figurines that can be created from the Bandai Hello Kitty/Zaku II Super-Deformed-Gundam-Cross-Silhouette (SDCS) Gunpla kit is the SDCS Zaku II. This model kit could not be more different from the first one that I completed earlier i.e. the Hello Kitty figurine from Sanrio's supercute universe. The Zaku II, meanwhile, is a mecha mobile suit from the Gundam universe that deals with war in the future. However, the SDCS product line from Bandai takes this more serious subject matter and turns them into smaller deformed versions of their usual form. And the SDCS Zaku II is the scale model kit being featured here.

Bandai Super-Deformed-Gundam-Cross-Silhouette (SDCS) Zaku II [Completed]

 Unlike the Hello Kitty figurine before it, the SDCS Zaku II had at least some panel-lining work done on it despite being a straight out-of-the-box build. But that was all I did. Because this super deformed mobile suit's molded plastic finish was of high quality, I felt it didn't need a coat of paint to make it look better and less plasticky. On the other hand, the weapons does look a tad plasticky. So much so that I very nearly painted the machine gun, heat sabre, bazooka, and leg missile pods.

SDCS Zaku II is fitted with a lot of weapons starting with the machine gun on his right hand, ...

... the heat sabre in his left hand, missile pods attached to both ankles, and ...

... the biggest weapon of all, a bazooka, which is secured onto its back.

 So I guess you could say that the one key drawback to doing a straight out-of-the-box build, at least for the SDCS Zaku II, was that its weapons would've looked much better painted in a dark metallic gun metal hue. But tempted as I was to paint the weapons, I had decided against it seeing that realism wouldn't be the main takeaway from a kit designed to look cute rather than menacing. So with that in mind I left the weapons unpainted and in its original glossy black finish.

Bandai Super-Deformed-Gundam-Cross-Silhouette (SDCS) Zaku II (back view)

Both the SDCS Zaku II's armor and weapons are molded in a glossy plastic finish ...

... and look good sans any paint save for some panel-lining on the grooves.

 In addition to panel-lining, I also applied foil stickers onto the SDCS Zaku II's mono-eye as well as on the lenses of its machine gun and bazooka. For the mono-eye, a reflective chrome-like sticker was first applied onto its surface. Following that a piece of clear pink plastic was then placed on top of the reflective foil sticker. What this does is to allow the mono-eye to better reflect any light that falls on it thus making the mono-eye look like it's shining. Meanwhile, the other two foil stickers comprised shiny/reflective pink stickers that acted like pseudo-lenses for the machine gun and the bazooka. 

The SDCS Zaku II is the second of three figurines to be built from this scale model kit

 With the two main figurines of this scale model kit - the Hello Kitty and SDCS Zaku II - now completed, there is only one option left to be build from this scale model kit. This last option uses not only new parts but also parts from both the existing Hello Kitty and SDCS Zaku II figurines. This Hello Kitty Zaku II combo should be finished in time for next week's blog post upload. Until then, I hope you're having a good week so far, and as always ... do be well and happy!